Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Gawker "actually likes" year-old song that everyone else in the world already knows, likes

Gawker Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Snyder has discovered the Pheonix song "1901"! And he has graciously shared this gem with us, for our benefit! Too bad that Phoenix is already so well known that they appeared on SNL like 8 months ago, and "1901" is currently running about 1,000 times a day in a Cadillac commercial.

"A few months ago this song started popping up in my iTunes on shuffle mode, but I kept forgetting to go back to my computer and learn the name."

Yeah, all that crap that keeps popping up in shuffle, but you can't be bothered to actually find out the name of the song or artist, and of course you never knew it to begin with because you don't ever buy any music or seek any out anymore. It's just sort of there. Playing on shuffle.

There's so much wrong with this post, I don't really know where to begin. First is the dated, tone-deaf headline "French Music We Actually Like." Yeah, because, like all French music sucks, dude. I challenge the author of this post to name 5 French artists he either likes or dislikes.

And the whole "actually like" conceit is annoying: apparently they are so discerning in their taste that only occasionally do they come across a song that meets their impeccably high standards. Maybe the trick to finding music you "actually like" is to pay a little bit of attention to music and to occasionally take your iPod off of shuffle mode.

I have to say, though, that the commenters didn't let me down. They quite fairly made a mockery of this post, prompting a bit of snarky defensiveness from Snyder. Examples:

"So tell us about the French music you actually hate, Mr. Snyder."

"I love this song! I do not like the whole "French music we actually like" attitude, though. Have you tried to listen to any French music? As if all French music sounded the same. Oof.

"

My fave:

"Wow, and only eight months after they appeared on SNL! When do you think Gabe's gonna find out Michael Jackson died?"

And Gabriel's weak response:

"I go out on Saturday nights, but apparently not to cool enough parties to know this band as soon as you."

But apparently you don't have to go to parties at all to know about this band:

"You do know this song is also blaring to Cadillac commercials every two or three minutes, too, right?"

and

"The producers of Cougartown, Entourage and every late night talk show ever are going to be so jazzed to find out they go to cooler parties than you too."

Anyway, this whole post is a train wreck and bothers me inordinately for some reason. Gawker, please stick to whining about media layoffs and the recession and New York and leave the music blogging to the pros.

(This, by the way, has nothing whatsoever to do with my commenter account being mysteriously suspended when the refresh happened, and not restored, despite my requests.)